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the University. After this ceremony the new laboratorieswere inspected and declared open. These buildings-onehousing the departments of physiology, forensic medicine,and materia medica, and the other the department of naturalphilosophy-have been in the course of erection forseveral years. It is interesting to note in this con.

nexion that it is exactly 60 years since Lord Kelvin,in a cellar of the old college, inaugurated the first physicallaboratory for students in Europe. Afterwards luncheon wasserved in the large natural philosophy laboratory whichhad been specially prepared and decorated for the occasion.The scene at the laying of the foundation stone of the RoyalInfirmary next day was no less brilliant. It will be recol-lected that the infirmary erected in 1791 was found to havebecome out of date in all important respects and it wasresolved to rebuild it entirely and to dedicate it as a

memorial to Her late Majesty Queen Victoria. It was thefoundation stone of the first block under this new schemewhich was laid on Wednesday. In laying the stone thePrince made a graceful reference to Lord Lister whose earlywork in antisepsis was carried out in this infirmary andwhose eightieth birthday has just been celebrated. Beforeleaving the infirmary the Prince handed f.100 to thechairman of directors for the reconstruction scheme. Bothat the University and the infirmary much gratification wascaused by the evident and sympathetic interest of theirRoyal Highnesses.

Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.The staff of resident medical officers at the Aberdeen Royal

Infirmary has now been increased from four to six. Accord-ing to the old arrangement each medical officer had charge ofa medical and a surgical ward. It is now proposed to giveeach resident charge for six months of a surgical ward andfor another six months of a medical ward. The newly-appointed residents are Dr. N. S. Gilchrist, Dr. G. Mitchell,and Dr. A. T. Pirie, while Dr. J. Raffan, one of the retiringresidents, has been appointed for a further period of fourmonths.

Cerebro-s pina .b’e2er.The outbreak of this fever in Aberdeenshire has now,

to all appearance, been checked. In all there have been sixdeaths. Only one case has been notified in the city.

.Diseases of the Eye in School Children.In connexion with the serious epidemic of conjunctivitis

and trachoma among the children attending the board schoolsin Aberdeen during the past winter a deputation from thedirectors of the Ophthalmic Institute had an interview duringthe past week with the members of the administrative com-mittee of the school board. It was pointed out by thedeputation that owing to the serious epidemic muchadditional work and expense had been thrown upon the institution, the cases having run into many hundreds. The Iboard considered that but for the voluntary offices rendered Iby the institution it would have been necessary to appointa medical officer of its own, and it therefore agreed to givea grant of .640 to the institute.

Medical Questions at the Trades Congress.At the Scottish Trades Congress held in Aberdeen, a

motion by one of the Aberdeen representatives-That this Congress is of opinion that the law in regard to the ques-

tion of vaccination should be the same in Scotland as it is in England,that the conscience clause should be or ought to be as essential to aScotchman as it is to an Englishman-was carried by a large majority. At the same Congress Mr.Hendry Brechin moved :- .

at in the opinion of this Congress the Education (Scotland) Actsshould be amended so as to make it compulsory on school boards toprovide for the medical examination of all children on entering school,and periodically throughout their school life; and to give powers toschool boards to provide medical appliances for the correction ofphysical defects where necessary.The motion was unanimously adopted.April 6Utn.

IRELAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Anatomical Teccclcing in -Dublin.A RESOLUTION was recently adopted by the North Dublin

union which with other provisions directed that noticesshould be posted in all the wards and corridors warning theinmates that if they did not give specific directions to the

contrary their bodies-if they died-would be sent to theschools of anatomy. This resolution has caused much troublein the anatomical and surgical schools. Dr. J. C. McWalter,who is a guardian, said that it would be a cruel and dis-graceful thing to frighten poor people coming into the unionby drawing their attention to the matter. Dr. A. Fraser, pro-fessor of anatomy at the Royal College of Surgeons, hasaddressed the following letter to the board of guardians :-SIR,-I am directed by the anatomical committee, which represents

the Medical School of the Catholic University, the Medical School ofTrinity College, and the Medical School of the Royal College ofSurgeons in Ireland, to draw the attention of your board to the veryserious consequences which will inevitably follow from the stringentapplication of the motion which they passed on the 17th inst.. Theseconsequences, the results of which cannot be foreseen, may be brieflysummarised as follows : (1) The absolute ruin of the three Dublinmedical schools; (2) thus depriving young Irishmen of obtaining amedical education in the capital city of their own country; (3) thedisastrous effects on the city generally from the enforced banish-ment of the young Irishmen who intend to follow a medi-cal career. The representatives of the three medical schoolsare confident that the necessity on their part of forwardingthis letter would never have arisen had the guardians beenaware of the consequences of the passing of their motion, andthey venture to express the hope that the guardians may be kindenough to reconsider their decision. Should it be thought necessarythe committee will gladly forward a printed statement to each of theguardians, or a deputation can be arranged to wait upon them, andafford them any further information they may require.

Cerebro-spinal Fever in Belfast.At a meeting of the public health committee held on

April 24th it was reported that for the week ending April 20ththe death-rate from all causes had been 23. 9 per 1000. 36cases of cerebro-spinal fever had been notified during theweek, as compared with 24 in the previous week. Altogether,up to April 24th 337 cases have been reported in Belfast with227 deaths. Of the 107 patients in Purdysburn fever hos-pital up to April 24th, 43 were suffering from cerebro-spinalmeningitis, and ten out of 12 deaths occurring during theweek in that institution were caused by that disease. Sincethe 24th up to to-day (April 30th) six more cases of

cerebro-spinal fever have been admitted to Purdysburn cityhospital.

Bangor Cottage Hospital.A committee appointed at a public meeting held in

Bangor, county Down, on April 22nd to confer with LadyClanmorris regarding the carrying on of the work of thehospital in that town, has handed in its report, and at apublic meeting called on April 24th it was decided to takeover the Cottage Hospital with equipment as from June lstnext anctto do all things necessary for administering the affairsof the institution, including the appointment of officers,board of management, and committee. Further, it was

agreed that the committee should act on behalf of the townand district in regard to providing a new hospital suitable tothe needs of Bangor and the neighbourhood.

The Bettast Health Commision

The sittings of the Belfast Health Commission were resumedon April 25th and since that day evidence has been takenamong others from the following in reference to the water-supply of Belfast: Professor J. L. Smith, Professor W. St. C.Symmers, and Mr. L. L. Macassey, C.E., consulting engineerto the Belfast water commissioners.

The Proposed Sanatorium for Cork Consumptives.The Local Government Board has given its decision with

regard to the application of the Cork conjoint hospitalboard for permission to erect a sanatorium at Myshall. Itwill be recollected that the proposed site is on the bank ofthe Tullig river, which is a tributary of the Lee, fromwhich the citizens of Cork derive their water-supply. Atthe inquiry held last February it was pointed out that

patients would be likely to expectorate into the riverand that the disease might in that way be communicated tothe inhabitants of Cork. Furthermore, it was contended thatno matter what steps would be taken to purify the sewageits conveyance into the river would be a constant menace topublic health. Further expert opinion has now been takenwith regard to sewage disposal and the possibility of tuberclebacilli surviving sufficiently long in the water to prove adanger to Cork but no unanimous views were arrived at.In the course of giving its decision the Local GovernmentBoard stated that it ’’ does not, however, consider that itwould be warranted in making a Provisional Order in viewof the very strong opposition of the citizens of Cork as putforward by their elective representatives, and while, as

already stated, it thinks that the prospect of contaminationof the water-supply is very remote, it realises that a feeling

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- of great uneasiness might very possibly be caused in the cityfrom the fact that a sanatorium for tuberculosis was con-structed upon one of the sources of the water-supply." Thisdecision of the Local Government Board was received with_great satisfaction by the citizens of Cork generally because,apart from danger altogether, they strenuously objected to

’’

the disgusting idea of being called on to drink water whichhad received the deiecta and sputum of consumptives.April 30th.

PARIS.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Abortion.

AT a recent meeting of the Obstetrical Society an im-portant discussion was commenced upon abortion, more

especially the criminal variety. M. Boissard, the first speaker,gave an account of cases of abortion which had come underhis care in his wards at the Tenon Hospital. He stated thatthe number of criminal abortions was constantly increasingand that in a very disquieting fashion. He admitted that-in the absence of a direct history from the patient, which,of course, was difficult to obtain-the abortion had beencriminally brought about; that he relied for diagnosisof criminal intent upon a rise in the temperature andsigns of infection. Spontaneous abortion is not, as a

rule, due to infection and does not give the above-mentioned symptoms. For treatment he advised activemeasures and immediate curetting. M. Tissier also spokeof the increase in the number of abortions andblamed the light view which was taken of the practice bythe magistrates and the general laxity of morality whichwas encouraged by certain modern views according to whichlimitation of families was not a crime. Among the higherclasses, he said, women had no shame in avowing that theyhad had abortion procured, as if it were quite the naturalthing to do. The class which made up hospital patients was,however, much more reticent. M. Tissier thought that thesociety should organise a strong protest against suchpractices. M. Blondel agreed with the two former speakers.He added that the airy way in which abortion was lookedupon in Paris made foreigners think that it was permitted inFrance.. For his own part he had every year to send awayfrom his consulting-rooms sundry English women, bothmarried and unmarried, who had crossed the Channel simplyto have abortion brought on, and who in some cases had theimpertinence to allege that they had been sent by theirmedical attendants.

Congress of-Medical -Practitioners.

A congress of medical practitioners was held at Parisfrom April 12th to 14th. 14,000 medical practitioners hadsent in their names as approving of the objects of the con-gress. 100 medical societies, some of them having manythousands of members, such as the Association des Medecinsde France, the Union des Syndicats Medicaux, and theConcours Medical, had subscribed to the funds of the

congress. Many members of the Faculty of Medicine andof the Academy of Medicine took part in the discussionsupon the question of the reform of medical education, andthe press in general has treated the congress as a

remarkable event which will be a landmark in the historyof French medicine. The opening discussion dealt withmedical education and it was pointed out that many reformsmight be made in the education given at hospitals. The hoursof visits and of lectures in the wards of a hospital should beso arranged (echelonnees) that the student could attendseveral during one term. The State faculties of medicineshould be able to apply to private cliniques for clinicalmaterial as is the custom in provincial schools. The incomeof the various medical faculties is extremely small. It issome 20,000,000 francs inferior to that of Germany and theState ought to be applied to for subsidies. The numberof professors is not sufficient for the number of pupils andthe congress adopted unanimously a resolution stating thatthe hospital should be the centre of instruction from thepoint of view of clinical medicine and therapeutics. As toreforms of teaching in the faculties the general view takenwas that these faculties would honour themselves by engagingwell-known personalities for their various posts and for theiredncational work. The mode of supplying professors wasvariously looked upon, some demanding the institution of

privat-docenten as in Germany and adding that this plancould perfectly co-exist with the present state of matters.The question of the reform of the concours de l’agregation waslightly touched upon. Other questions debated were that ofpayment of a professor by his pupils and that of absolute free-dom of choice being allowed to every member of a friendlysociety to choose his own medical man and his own druggist.Another question debated was that of vacation classes andpost-graduate courses of lectures (l’enseignement comple,-mentaire). Finally, the congress demanded a weekly day ofrest for medical men or else the fixing of a tariff whichwould make it legitimate for double fees to be charged forSunday work. An enormous quantity of questions weredebated more or less fully, and if many of them have notfound a solution it can nevertheless be stated that thisfirst meeting of medical men has been of great use in thedebating of such questions and also shows that they occupythe attention of very many medical men. It is probablethat at the next meeting the matters will have ripened andthat very likely some practical solutions will be arrived at.

Constipation and Hypothyroidia.At the meeting of the Biological Society held on April 13th

M. Levi and M. H. de Rothschild communicated a paper inwhich they stated that they had treated sundry cases of con-stipation by thyroid medication. The youngest case wasaged three and a half years and the oldest 63 years. All thepatients showed symptoms of hypothyroidia, such as migraineand chronic rheumatoid arthritis.

Typhoid Fever caused by Oysters.At the March meeting of the Biological Society M. Netter

reported a series of cases of typhoid fever in which theevidence of the disease having been caused by oysters isquite irrefutable ; the facts were communicated to him byDr. Villanex. Two families living at a distance of two kilo-metres apart divided a basket of oysters from the Olonnebeds; these were eaten by both families at their dejeuners.The oysters were fresh, in fine condition, and were pro-nounced excellent. In the first family there were 11 persons,of whom six partook of the oysters ; in the second nine, ofwhom five ate them. Of the 11 persons who had eaten themten became ill (i.e., 91 per cent.) and four developed typhoidfever (i.e., 36’ 4 per cent.) ; there was one death (i.e., 10 percent.). None of the other nine persons who did not eat anyoysters became ill.April 29th.

COPENHAGEN.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Death after a Tracheal Operation in which Cocaine was Used.AT the last meeting of the Danish Oto-Laryngological

Association Professor E. Schmiegelow communicated a noteon a case in which he had removed a grain of maize fromthe right bronchus of a girl, four years of age, by means ofKillian’s superior tracheoscopy. The foreign body had beenin the bronchus for about eight days, when the little patientcame under Professor Schmiegelow’s care. It could be easilyseen after the administration of chloroform but the extrac-tion proved very difficult, partly because no suitable hookswere available for use. More than an hour elapsed beforethe attempts were successful, and it was necessary to applybetween five and six cubic centimetres of a 10 per cent.solution of cocaine chloride to the mucous membrane of therespiratory tract. Soon after awakening from the anaesthesiathe patient became very restless and shortly afterwards con-vulsions set in. Some hours later she died from whatProfessor Schmiegelow did not hesitate to diagnose as acutecocaine poisoning. Dr. P. Jetens Hald called attention tothe cases of death from acute cocaine poisoning observed upto now in patients who had undergone tracheo-bronchoscopy.There were at least three deaths on record, two in Americaand one in Switzerland.

A New Operation for the Removal of the Urinary Bladder.At a recent meeting of the Medical Society of Copenhagen

Professor Thorkild Rovsing read a paper on an improvedoperation for the complete extirpation of the urinary bladder.There were great disadvantages connected with the older

methods, especially because the way in which the ureters